Coke-discharging apparatus



June' 26, i923.

W. G. LAIRD COKE DIS CHARGING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 3 1920 2 sheets-sheet l n., o oo oo o v@ @Hoffnung june 26, 1923.

, 34%,@67 w. Gf LMRD COKE DISCHARGING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 3 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wg @Hozwu the same.

Patente lune 26, i923.

wrnnun c. Lara-n, or Naw Yoan, N. Y., nssreivon ro HENBY n noHnarY, or nizw Yoan, 1v. Y. l

COKE-DISCHARGING APPARATUS.

Application led November 3, 1920. Serial No. 421,441.

To all 'whom it may conce/m.'

Be it known that I, WILBUR G. LAmD, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at New York city, in the county of New York, State of 'New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coke-Discharging Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use This invention relates t0 a-coke discharging apparatus for coal carbonizing shaft furnaces. l

The subject matter vof the present case constitutes a division of my former application for coal carbonizing furnaces, Se-

rial No. 253,046, filed September A2nd, 1918.

In shaft furnaces of the type shown in the above ap lication, the coal to be carbonized or distilled by a continuous operation is supported in a vertical column and moves slowly downwardly through the furnace while passing through a series of heat treatment zones. The entire column of coke and partly carbonized coal is supported at the bottom of the furnace and a portion of the coke may be continuously removed from the bottom, thereby permitting the entire col- 4umn of cokin material to gradually work downwardly t rou h the furnace at any desired rate of speer?. The gradual and regularremoval of the coke from the bottom of the furnace is rendered dicult by' the great weight of the material andthe tendency of the coke to pack into compact masses which are diiiicult to break andwhich obstruct the insertion or the movement of moving elements through the body of coke. The coke discharging apparatus should, moreover, be so arranged that it will permit a uniform distribution and a free upward passage' of gases which are introduced into thev furnace `jte actas a heat 'transferring medium. l n

The pary object of the present invention is to rovide a discharging apparatus fonshaft urnaces capable of supporting a column of fuel and for removing fuel from the bottom ofthe column at any desired rate. lt is essential, in order to obtain the best results, that Athe carbonizing material should move at substantially the same rate throughout the enti-re cross-section of the furnace so that every portion of the coal should re ceive the same treatment in each of the temperature zones. A uniform condition and `porosity in the carbonizing material is also shaft furnaces by which the fuel is removed 4 uniformly throughout the cross-sectional area at the bottom of the fuel column.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fuel discharging device located at the bottom of a column of fuel, arranged to allow heat transferring'gas to enter the fuel column freely throughout the entire cross-sectional area ofsaid column.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the' apparatus described in the following specification and dened in the claims.

The various features of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a coal carbonizin shaft furnace provided with a fuel discharging device embodying a pref ferred form of the invention; f

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the furnace on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of a coke discharg' ing apparatus. y

The furnace shown in the accompanying drawings comprises an upright cylindrical shell 10 into which coal to be carbonized is fed through a valve device 12 in the top of the furnace. The coal moves downwardly through the furnace and passes through` zones of constantly increasing temperature `22. From the hopper 20, the coke is discharged into a second hopper 24 from which it is delivered upon opening a door 26 in the bottom of the hopper. Steam or other gaseous heat transferring medium for controlling the temperatures in the fuel column and the coal carbonization, enters the furnace through an inlet 28 in the shell 10 adjacent the coke discharging device 18 and passes through the coke discharging device and upwardly through the downwardly moving column of coke. From the upper part of the furnace the gas formed by the carbonization of the coal and the gas introduced as a heat transferring medium leave through an outlet 30.

The coke discharging device 18 serves to support the column of coal and coke in the furnace and to permit removal of coke from the bottom of the column as desired. The column of coke and coal is supported directly on an annular supporting plate 32 and a defiecting cone 34 positioned above the center of the annular plate 32. An annular space or opening 36 through which coke passes to the plate 32 is formed above the plate between the outer edge of the cone 34 and an apron 38 extending downwardly from the refractory lining 16 of the furnace. The plate 32 is wider than the opening 36 and extends inwardly under the cone 34 and outwardly below the apron 38 to such a disstance that the coke passing downwardly through the opening 36 and spreading out on the plate 32 will not flow unaided by other means over the edges of the plate and will, therefore, support the column of coke above the opening 36. The coke reaching the plate 32 is removed by a discharging scraper and a correspondingquantity of coke passes downwardly through the opening 36, thereby permitting the entire column of coke and coal to sink downwardly through the furnace.

i The coke is discharged from the plate 32 by the movement over the plate of a scraping ring 40 having an upright coke engaging flange 42. The ring is given a gyratory movement over an annular wear platel 4l resting on the plate 32, in such a manner that the outer edge of the ring rolls tangent -to the outer edge of the -wear plate and the inner edge of the ring tangent to the inner edge of the wear plate.. The points of tangency of the inner and outer ,edges are always diametrically opposite and travel around the inner and outer edges of the wear plate. During each gyration of the ring 40 over the wear plate it therefore reciprocates radially over every 4part of the breadth of the plate and by means of the uprightv iiange 42 brushes a uniform amount of coke over the edges of the supporting plate 32; A uniform overflow of coke over the entire periphery of the .inner and outer edgcsof the supporting plate 32 is thereby produced during each gyration and an equivalent quantity of coke is permitted to pass uniformly downwardly through the opening 36. The wear on the ring 40 due to its travel over the .wear plate is taken up by an annular wear ring or shoe 46 attached to the bottom of the ring.

A gyratory movement is imparted to the ring 40 by means of two pistons 48 :ind 50 reciprocating in cylinders 52 and 54, respectively, mounted on the shell l0 of the generator. The movement of the pistons 48 and 50 is transmitted by means of piston f rods 56 and 58 passing through stufling boxes on the cylinders 52 and 54 and on the generator shell 10 to connecting rods 60 and 62. The connecting rods 6() and 62 are pivotally connected to a pivot pin 64 to which the ring 40 is rigidly fastened by means of spokes 66.

The movement of one of the pistons 48 or 50 precedes the other by a dist-ance corresponding to one-quarter of a revolution of the pivot pin 64, so that when harmonic motion is given to the pistons, the pivot 64 will travel in a circle concentric with the centre of the plate 32.

Using the above described apparatus, the coke passing downwardly through the furnace is deflected through the opening 36 by the cone 34 and is discharged uniformly from every part of the annular opening 36 by the ring 40. To break up any large lumps of coke passing through the opening 36, a series of webs or plates 6 8 extend radially inwardly from the wall 10 of the furnace. As the ring 40 is brought towards the plates 68 any particles caught between the ring and the plates will be crushed -to a smaller size before being swept over the edge of the plate.

The column of fuel is supported by the discharging device and heat transferring gases from the inlet pipe 28 are permitted to enter the bottom of the column of fuel uniformly throughout the area of said column. To facilitate the uniform distribution of the heat transferring gases, the apron 38 and the cone 34 are provided with a nun1- ber of perforations. fore free to enter throughout the pe-ripl'iery of the apron 38 and throughoutJ the area of the cone 34 and to enter the opening 36 through the spaces between the lower edges of the cone 34 and apron 38 and the top of the supporting plate 32. By the agitation and discharging of the coke with the movement of the ring 40 and flange 42 and the crushing of large lumps between the flange The gases are there" combination, a vertical gas-tight shell, a central deflector mounted near the bottom of said shell, an apron surrounding and spaced from said deflector to leave a discharge opening for coke and spaced from the inner wall of said shell to provide a gas passage, an annular plate supported below said discharge opening, having a discharge passage through the central opening thereof, a scraper on said plate, and means to impart a gyratory movement to said scraper to reciprocate the scraper across each part of the central opening of said plate to discharge material therethrough.

10. A coal carbonizing furnace having in combination a gas-tight shell, a support for a column of fuel in said shell comprising an annular plate having its outer edge spaced from the inner face of 'the shell and 20 arranged to receive fuel discharged from said fuel column, a scraper on said plate, and a pair of separately operated driving means mounted at an angle to one another and connected with said scraper to simultaneously operate on said scraper for imparting a discharging movement thereto.

11. A coal carbonizing furnace having in combination a gas-tight shell, a support for a column of fuel Within said shell comprising an annular plate having its outer edge spaced from the inner face of the shell and arranged to receive fuel from said fuel column, a scraper on said plate, and means for operating said scraper comprising pistons mounted on said shell at right angles to each other, and means for connecting said pistons to a common pointon the scraper.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILBUR G. LAIRD. 

